[vog]

Could anybody explain why this comment by "internaut" was downvoted so heavily?

I found internaut's comment to be insightful, well-conceived and on-topic. What's wrong with this comment?

EDIT: Moreover, who downvoted me so quickly for asking this question? This happened almost immediately after I posted this. Are there some nasty bots at place here?

[dang]

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11797751 and marked it off-topic.

[pvg]

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

search for 'downvoted'.

[vog]

I don't know what to make of this. This hint is not useful at all. The guideline in question ...

> Please resist commenting about being downvoted.

... does not explain anything here.

1. This guideline does not explain the downvote of internaut's comment.

2. This guideline does not explain the downvote of my initial comment, where I complained about another person being downvoted, not about myself being downvoted (which I wasn't at that point in time).

3. This guideline does not explain the situation after my EDIT. Although it violated that guideline, it did not receive heavy downvotes, but received multiple upvotes instead.

[pvg]

It simply asks you not to go on (and continue to go on) about downvoting. The forum is better if everyone does as it asks. If you're really worried about being targeted by some evil bot, you can just email the site admins.

[vog]

Thanks for the clarification. Now your first comment makes a lot more sense to me.

It was not clear to me that you were asking for something. I thought you were trying to explain something.

[pvg]

I wasn't asking you for anything.

[vog]

You were asking me to follow the guidelines. Which is perfectly fine. I wasn't aware that I violated them, I'm thankful for the hint, and I'm more than willing to respect and follow them.

I just didn't get that from your very short initial comment, because I misunderstood it.